CHINESEIN 15 MINUTES

EXCERPTS FROM BENJAMIN HOFF’S THE TAO OF POOH

PHILOSOPHY

“[In the famous painting, The Vinegar Tasters] we see three men standing around a vat of vinegar.

Each has dipped his finger into the vinegar and has tasted it.

The expression on each man’s face shows his individual reaction.

The first has a sour look on his face, the second

wears a bitter expression, but the third man is smiling.

Since the painting is allegorical, we are to understand that these are no ordinary vinegar

tasters, but are instead representatives of the Three teachings of China, and that the vinegar they are

sampling represents the Essence of Life.

The three masters are K’ung Fu-tse (Confucius), Buddha, and Lao-tse, author of the oldest existing

book on Taoism.

To K’ung Fu-tse, life seemed rather sour.

He believed that the present was out of step with the past, and that the government of man on earth was

out of harmony with the Way of Heaven, the government of the universe.

Therefore, he emphasized reverence for the Ancestors, as well as for the ancient rituals and ceremonies in which the emperor, as the Son of

Heaven, acted as intermediary between limitless heaven and limited earth.

Under Confucianism, the use of precisely measured court music, prescribed steps, actions, and phrases

all added up to an extremely complex system of rituals, each used for a particular purpose at a

particular time.

A saying was recorded about K’ung Fu-tse: “If the mat was not straight, the master would not sit.”

This ought to give an indication of the extent to which things were carried out under Confucianism.

To Buddha, the second figure in the painting, life on earth was bitter, filled with attachments and desires

that led to suffering.

The world was seen as a setter of traps, a generator of illusions, a revolving wheel of pain for all

creatures.

In order to find peace, the Buddhist considered it necessary to transcend ‘the world of dust’ and reach

Nirvana, literally a state of ‘no wind.’

Although the essentially optimistic attitude of the Chinese altered Buddhism considerably after it was

brought from its native India, the devout Buddhist often saw the way to Nirvana interrupted all the same by the bitter wind of everyday existence.

To Lao-tse, the harmony that naturally existed between heaven and earth from the very beginning

could be found by anyone at any time, but not by following the rules of Confucianism.

As he stated in his book Tao Te Ching, the ‘Tao Virtue Book,’ earth was in essence a reflection of

heaven, run by the same laws – not by the laws of men.

These laws affected not only the spinning of the distant planets, but the activities of the birds in the

forest and the fish in the sea.

According to Lao-tse, the more man interfered with the natural balance produced and governed by the

universal laws, the further away the harmony retreated into the distance.

The more forcing, the more trouble.

Whether heavy or light, wet or dry, fast or flow, everything had its own nature already within it, which

could not be violated without causing difficulties.

When abstract and arbitrary rules were imposed from the outside, struggle was inevitable. Only then

did life becomes sour.

To Lao-tse, the world was not a setter of traps but a teacher of valuable lessons. Its lesson’s needed to be learned, just as its laws needed to be followed;

then all would go well. Rather than turn away from ‘the world of dust.’ Lao-tse advised others to ‘join the

dust of the world.’

What he saw operating behind everything in heaven and earth he called the Tao, the Way. A basic

principle of Lao-tse’s teaching was that this Way of the Universe could not be adequately described in

words, and that it would be insulting both to its unlimited power and to the intelligent human mind to

attempt to do so.

Still, its nature could be understood, and those who cared the most about it, and the life from which it

was inseparable, understood it best.

Over the centuries Lao-tse’s classic teachings were developed and divided into philosophical, monastic, and folk religious forms. All of these could be included under the general heading of Taoism.

But the basic Taoism that we are concerned with here is simply a particular way of appreciating,

learning from, and working with whatever happens in everyday life. From the Taoist point of view, the

natural result of this harmonious way of living is happiness.

You might say that happy serenity is the most noticeable characteristic of the Taoist personality, and a subtle sense of humour is apparent even in

the most profound Taoist writings, such as the 2500 year old Tao Te Ching…

In the painting, why is Lao-tse smiling? After all, that vinegar that represents life must certainly have

an unpleasant taste, as the expressions on the faces of the other two men indicate.

But through working in harmony with life’s circumstances, Taoist understanding changes what

others may perceive as negative into something positive.

From the Taoist point of view, sourness and bitterness come from the interfering and

unappreciative mind. Life itself, when understood and utilized for what it is, is sweet. That is the

message of The Vinegar Tasters.”

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